Prices for aluminum electrolytic capacitors are expected to hike by 5-15% in the second quarter 2011 due to the shortage of the passive components caused by the Japan earthquake in March, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Although Japan-based Nippon Chemi-con, the world's top supplier of aluminum capacitors, has partially resumed the operations of its plant in Miyagi Prefecture, it will take at least two months for the company to recover all of its capacity, said the sources. The Miyagi plant has a capacity of 300 million aluminum capacitors a month.

In addition to Nippon Chemi-con, the operations of two other capacitor makers Nichicon and Rubycon have also been affected by power brownouts in Japan, said the sources. With Japan-based makers having control of over 70% of the global aluminum capacitor market, the slowdown in the production at Japan's makers has led to a tight supply.